Magazine for safety razor blades



Dec. 23, 1952 MEAD 2,622,320

MAGAZINE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed 001.. 8, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 INVENTOR K'TORNEYS Dec. 23, 1952 G. R. MEAD MAGAZINE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 FIG. 6

INVENTOR Gib 5W7 f2 Mac/ mmazn/d ,5? a M ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 23, 1952 MAGAZINE FQR SAFETII RAZQR BLADES Gideon R. Mead, Plattsburg, N. Y., assignor to Pal Blade Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 8, 1948, Serial No. 53,414

7 Claims, 1

This invention relates to a blade magazine to be used in connection with an injector razor. One type of such a razor comprises a back plate, terminating in a forwardly extending bladeclamping cap, and a blade platform on a downwardly extending supporting plate articulated to the back plate and held with the blade platform in contact with the clamping cap by means of a spring. Blades are commonly fed to such a razor from a magazine which is provided with a forwardly extending cam finger designed to be inserted between the supporting plate and the back plate and, by separating the two, to release the clamping pressure of the clamping cap upon the blade on the platform, whereupon the topmost blade in the magazine is fed forward, by means of a manually operated slide, between the cap and the platform, discharging the dull blade as the sharp one moves into shaving position. On removal of the cam finger, the parts move again into blade-clamping position and the razor is ready for use.

The magazines on the market today for use in Q nection with injector razors are made of metal and so constructed that they cannot be refilled and must be discarded when empty. In accordance with the present invention I have provided a blade magazine for use in connection with injector razors made of plastic and so constructed that it may be refilled when empty. In doing this I have made various improvements in blade magazines of this character as will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention. In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an injector razor, showing the magazine of my invention in juxtaposition to the razor and in position for being mounted upon it;

Figure 2 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the razor and magazine of Figure l, with part of the top cut away, but showing the magazine mounted upon the razor in blade-injecting posiion;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2 Figure 4 is an end View, on an enlarged scale, ofthe razor shown in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows l l Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but with the magazine mounted upon the razor and taken al' nsl n -4 of i urei;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal vertical section simi-. lar to Figure 3 showing the position of the parts 2 with a dull blade partly ejected from the razor and a sharp one partly injected;

Figure '7 is a plan view on a somewhat reduced scale of the parts shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a transverse vertical section taken along line 88 of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the empty magazine with the top removed;

Figure 10 is a perspective view .of the top, shown upside down;

Figure 11 is a perspective View of the slide, shown upside down and Figure 12 is a perspective view of the spring which urges the stack of blades against the underface of the top.

The injector razor illustrated in these drawings comprises a handle I from which extends a back plate 2 bent forward at its upper end to form an upper bladeeclamping cap 3. A supporting plate 4 bent forward at its upper end to form a blade-supporting platform 5 is articulated to the back plate by means of a tongue 6 struck from the latter and extending forward through an opening in the supporting plate, which plate is normally held in contact with the back plate by means of a spring I. The supporting plate is bent downward at its outer edge to form the usual guard 8 and provided, at each end, with the usual blade stops 9. The foregoing is a description of a common type of injector razor and, of itself, forms no part of my invention.

As shown in Figure 4, the clamping cap 3 is holding a blade H in shaving position upon the blade platform 5. In order to enable the shaver to remove this blade when it becomes dull and to substitute a sharp one, a magazine is provided as already stated. I shall now describe thenovel blade magazine of my invention.

The magazine comprises a casing having a bottom l2, side walls l3, end walls l4 and a top or cover I5. Extending forwardly from the front end wall l4 and integral with the casing is a finger l6 provided with a guide rib lTwhich merges near the magazine into a cam Hi. This finger is designed to be inserted between the back plate 2 and the supporting plate 4 of the razor to cam the latter forward, as shown in Figure 5 to separate the blade-clamping cap from the blade lying upon the blade platform 5.

The top is provided with a longitudinal slot is in which is mounted a slide 2| for engaging the topmost blade of a stack 22 mounted within the magazine and pressed against the lower face of the top by means of a spring 23. The slide comprises a plate 24 which overlies and slides upon the top of the magazine and is provided with corrugated side edges 25 having depending flanges which embrace the upper rounded edges of the top, as shown best in Figure 8. The under lower face of the plate 24 is provided with a rib 26 which terminates in a forwardly extending pusher bar 21, the forward end of which is designed to abut against the rear end of the topmost blade. In order to insure that the pusher shall not engage more than one blade, I provide the bar 21 with a forwardly extending tongue 28, the lower face of which is raised above the lower face of the bar 21 by a distance which equals the thickness of one blade plus, perhaps, two or three thousandths of an inch to form a narrow, blade-engaging face 29. Thus if the plates are twelve thousandths of an inch inthickness, the width of the effective face 29 of the pusher bar may be fifteen thousandths.

The lower part of the magazine is provided near one end with a transverse partition 3| which divides the magazine into two chambers of unequal size, the forward chamber holding the blade stack and the rear chamber permitting retraction of the slide beyond the blade stack, as shown best in Figures 2 and 3, whereby on its forward movement the pusher bar can engage the topmost blade as previously explained. The upper face of the bottom l2, between the partition 3| and the front end wall I4, is provided with a pair of parallel ribs 32 which act as 10- cating means for the spring 23. The front end wall [4 is provided with a cut-out 33, the lower edge of which cooperates with the top to form a blade ejector slot, as will be described presently. The far side wall [3 is provided in the blade chamber with two corner posts 34 which act as guides for the rear, dull edges of the blades, and the near walls [3 are provided with similar posts 35 between which and the adjacent end wall and partition are triangular fillets 36 against which the bevelled corners of the cutting edges of the blades abut. Thus the posts 34 and fillets 33 serve as'vertical guideways for the blades, holding them in alignment without permitting the sharp edges of the blades to come into contact with anything that might dull them. The upper ends of the fillets 36 are flush with the lower edge of the cut-out 33 so that the topmost blade may be ejected from the magazine without being hindered by the guiding fillet. The adjoining edges of the side walls 13 and the bottom [2 are provided with slots 31 communicating with the blade chamber, and the rear end wall l4 of the bottom is likewise provided with a slot for a purpose which will be described presently. The bottom of the front wall l4 and the forward end of the bottom l2, are provided with a somewhat narrower slot 38, the function of which will also be described later.

The top [5 is provided on its underface with a pair of spaced rails 39 which parallel the slot 19 and act as slideways for the uppermost blade as it is being ejected. Five plates 4| depend from the cover, two on either side and one on the end, the lower edge of each being provided with an outwardly extending flange 42. The distance between the outer edges of the flanges 42 of each pair of side plates 4| is slightly greater than the internal width of the magazine, and the length of these flanges is slightly less than the lengths of the slots 31. The plates 4!, themselves, flare outward slightly at an angle of 2 or 3 to the vertical. Thus, when the plates 4'! are pressed downwardly into the container unt l the flanges 42 register with the slots 3! the former snap into place and the top is on, as shown best in Figures 3, 6 and 8. The forward ends of the rails 39 cooperate with the upper edge of the opening 33 to define a discharge slot for the blades which is one or two thousandths deeper than the blades are thick. The rear end of the slot 19 is provided with an enlarged cutout 43, shown best in Figures 2 and 10, which,

in conjunction with a cut-out in the rear plate 41, as shown best in Figure 10, provides an opening through which the slide and pusher bar can p be inserted before the casing and top are assembled.

The;bottom side end walls and finger of the magazine, as shown in Figure 9, are molded of a single piece of plastic and the top, as shown in Figure 10, is likewise molded of a single piece of plastic, as is also true of the slide 2|, as shown in Figure 11. All of the plastic parts are so shaped and proportioned as to facilitate molding.

The magazine is loaded and assembled as follows: A stack of from ten to twenty-one single edge blades, of the type used in injector razors, is placed within the bottom of the container with the sharp edges of the blades facing the near side wall [3, the blades of the stack being aligned by the posts 35 and the fillets 36, as previously explained. The slide is then inserted through the rear end slot of l9 with its pusher bar extending forwardly and the top then pressed upon the container until the flanges 42 snap within their respective slots, as previously explained and'the top latched in place. The spring 23 is then inserted through slot 38, as shown in Figure 6, it being understood that the container is preferably turned upside down at this time. When the spring is fully inserted, it snaps into place and presses the stack of blades against the rails 39.

When the magazine has been emptied of blades it can be opened for refilling by pinching the forward flanges 42 to press them inward. This is suflicient to enable'the spring to withdraw the other side flanges 42 from their slots 31 and free the top from the casing, but if not, the other side flanges can also be pressed inward.

The magazine functions as follows: When the blade II in the razor has become dulland the shaver desires to replace it with a sharp one, the finger I6 is inserted between the plates 2 and 4 until the forward end of the magazine abuts the adjacent end of the razor, the parts then being in the position shown in Figures 2, 3, 6 and '7. The cam l8 moves the near end of the plate 2 farther from the supporting plate 4 than the far end and this slightly distorts the holder as shown in Figures 2 and 7 to provide a greater distance betweenthe plate 2 and the stop 9 at the entrance end of the razor. The slide 2!, which has been moved to its rearmost position, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, is then moved forward (to the left as shown in these figures), the face 29 engaging the rearmost edge of the topmost blade, which is meanwhile overlaid .by tongue 28, to insure that only one blade is engaged, and further movement of the slide ejects the blade through the blade slot which lies in the plane of the upper face of the blade platform 5. Thus the forward end of the topmost blade engages the adjacent end of the dull blade I l and ejects it from the razor, as shown in Figure 6. When the sharp, new blade has reached shaving position the slide will have come to the end of the slot 19 and can proceed no farther; whereupon, the magazine is removed from the: razor,

the spring 1- returns the blade-clamping el'ementszto: their shaving position and the razor is in readiness for use.

It will be noted that the slot [9 and consequently: the pusher bar 27 are slightly off-centre so that the topmost blade is engaged slightly forwardof. itsmedian. There is thus a tendency to cant. the blade slightly during its forward motion and cause, the rear dull edge torub against the side of the dischargesl'ot while k eping the sharp edge free.

I claim:

1. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side and end walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side walls and bottom, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, a manually movable blade ejecting slide mounted in the top slot, plates depending from the side edges of the top to the side and bottom slots and terminating in flanges of slightly less length than the slots which they enter when the magazine is closed, an exit slot for the blades, and a spring interposed between the bottom of the casing and the lowermost blade of the stack to press the stack against the underface of the top with the topmost blade in alignment with the exit slot.

2. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side and end Walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side and rear end walls and bottom, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, 3, manually movable blade ejecting slide mounted in the top slot, plates depending from the side edges and rear end of the top to the wall and bottom slots and terminating in flanges of slightly less length than the slots which they enter when the magazine is closed, a cut-out in the front end wall of the casing adjacent the cam finger, the upper edge of which cooperates with the underface of the top to define an exit slot for the blades, a spring interposed between the bottom of the casing and the lowermost blade of the stack to press the stack against the underface of the top with the topmost blade in alignment with the exit slot, and a slot at the juncture of the bottom and one end wall through which the spring may be inserted into the casing after the blades.

3. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side, and end walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side walls and bottom, vertical guides in the casing for aligning a stack of blades without engaging their cutting edges, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, a manually movable blade ejecting slide mounted in the top slot and having a blade-engaging pusher bar, plates depending from the side edges of the top to the side and bottom slots and terminating in outwardly extending flanges of slightly less length than the slots which they enter when the magazine is closed, a cut-out in the front end wall of the casing adjacent the cam finger, the upper edge of which cooperates with the underface of the top to define an exit slot for the blades, the forward vertical blade guides in the casing stopping fiush with the lower edge of the exit slot,

and: a spring interposed between the bottom of the casing: and the lowermost blade of the stack to press the stack against. the underface of the top with the topmost. blade in: alignment with the exit slot and the blade-engaging face of the pusher bar.

4-. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor aligning av stack of blades without engaging their cutting edges, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, a manually movable blade ejecting slide mounted in the top slot and having a blade-engaging pusher bar having a narrow,

blade-engaging face greater than the thickness of one blade, but less than the thickness of two, plates depending from the side edges and rear end of the top to the sides, end and bottom slots and terminating in outwardly extending flanges of slightly less length than the slots, which theyenter when the magazine is closed, a cut-out in the front end wall of the casing adjacent the cam finger, the upper edge of which cooperates with the forward underface of the top. to define an exit slot for the blades, the forward vertical blade guides in the casing stopping flush with the lower edge of the exit slot, and a spring interposed between the bottom of the casing and the lowermost blade of the stack to press the stack against the underface of the top with the topmost blade in alignment with the exit slot and the blade-engaging face of the pusher bar.

5. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side and end walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side walls and bottom and the end walls and bottom, vertical guides in the casing for aligning a stack of blades without engaging their cutting edges, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, a manually movable blade-ejecting slide mounted in the top slot and having a bladeengaging pusher bar with a forwardly extending tongue to overlie the topmost blade of the stack and spaced from the bottom of the pusher bar a distance slightly greater than the thickness of one blade, but less than the thickness of two, plates depending from the side edges and rear end of the top to the side, end and bottom slots and terminating in outwardly extending flanges of slightly less length than the slots, which they enter when the magazine is closed, spaced slideways on the underface of the top, a cut-out in the front end wall of the casing adjacent the cam finger, the upper edge of which cooperates with the forward underface of the slideways to define an exit slot for the blades, the forward vertical blade guides in the casing stopping flush with the lower edge of the exit slot, and a spring interposed between the bottom of the casing and the lowermost blade of the stack to press the stack against the slideways on the top with the topmost blade in align ment with the exit slot and the narrow face of the pusher bar.

6. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side and end walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side walls and bottom, a removable top having a longitudinal slot' transversely offset from the median of the top, a manually movable blade ejecting slide mounted in the top slot and adapted to engage a blade slightly forward of its median, whereby the blade is canted slightly during ejection to keep the sharp edge of the blade free from contact with the casing, plates depending from the side edges of the top to the side and bottom slots and terminating in flanges of slightly less length than the slots which they enter when the magazine is closed, and an exit slot for the blades in the end wall adjacent the cam finger.

7. A dispensing magazine for an injector razor comprising a casing for a stack of blades, said casing having bottom, side and end Walls, a forwardly extending cam finger for mounting the magazine upon the razor, slots at the juncture of the side walls and bottom and the end walls and bottom, vertical guides in the casing for aligning a stack of blades without engaging their cutting edges, a removable top having a longitudinal slot, a manually movable blade-ejecting slide mounted in the top slot and having a bladeengaging pusher bar with a forwardly extending tongue .to overlie the topmost blade of the stack and spaced from the bottom of the pusher bar a distance slightly greater than the thickness of one blade, but less than the thickness of two, plates depending from the side edges and rear end of the top -to the side, end and bottom slots and terminating in outwardly extending flanges of slightly less length than the slots, which they enter when the magazine is closed, spaced slideways on the underface of the top, and a cut-out in the front end Wall of the casing adjacent the cam finger, the upper edge of which cooperates with the forward underface of the slideways to define an exit slot for the blades, the forward vertical blade guides in the casing stopping flush with the lower edge of the exit slot.

GIDEON R. MEAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,734,394 Muros Nov. 5, 1929 1,734,644 Ostrander et al Nov. 5, 1929 1,969,945 Rodrigues Aug. 14, 19 4 1,999,129 Minnelli Apr. 23, 1935 2,109,017 Rodrigues Feb. 22, 1938 2,303,764 Roberts Dec. 1, 1942 2,311,173 Hill Feb. 16, 1943 2,330,806 Benjamin Oct. 5, 1943 2,410,311 Steinbach Oct. 29, 1946 2,418,677 Testi Apr. 8, 1947 

